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ONE 9 • Theatrespace

(London, 1989. Interior of The Samaritans. A windowless room, yellow and brown, clean but shabby, with four cubicles. To the left is a desk covered with papers; this is where the Samaritan leader would sit during a shift. After Scene 1, whenever Lucia is at the Sams, so are all of the others. They are coming in and out, on the phones taking calls, fetching tea for each other, etc… The room should be lively, but not distracting. Right now, there is a spot on Lucia in the far right cubicle, while the rest are in darkness, and the phone is ringing. The audience will hear what Lucia hears, through voiceover. Lucia begins very polite and eager, and tries to remain polite throughout the call. Never does she become emotional, though she does react physically. Jack’s tone throughout is very light, casual, without drama.)

Lucia

Hello Samaritans, how can

I help?

Jack

That’s a new voice. What’s your name?

Lucia

My name is Lucia.

Jack

Lucia. Is that how you

say it? Lu-cia. That’s a pretty name. I’ve not talked to you before. My name is Jack. Or perhaps this…

(continued)

(continued from previous page)

…isn’t your regular shift?

Lucia

Are you feeling suicidal?

Jack

(Laughing) No, no, no. Has no one told you about me? I call in once a week, I do. For about, well… going on six years now.

Lucia

How can I help you, Jack?

Jack

You’re American, aren’t you?

Lucia

Yes, I am.

Jack

Could you give me your opinion, then?

Lucia

It depends on the question, Jack.

Jack

Oh, that’s good, that’s good. You do know your stuff, I can tell. Do you believe in the death penalty, Lucia?

Lucia

(After a pause) No. No, I don’t.

Jack

No matter the crime?

Lucia

I guess it’s always seemed like revenge to me: sanctioned revenge. But I don’t think it’s a deterrent and I don’t think it solves anything.

Jack

Good, good, Lucia; I’m glad to hear that. I’m in a place I’ll never get out of, never see the trees or walk the hills again. I come from Cornwall, Lucia; do you know Cornwall?

Lucia

I do. The coastline is very beautiful, and in a way, it looks like the West Coast. Except for the weather.

Jack

Beautiful place: no place on earth like it. My village is a small one; all were neighbors and friends. They keep me drugged here, Lucia. Do you know, I can never go back there, either, because they’d kill me. Not that I’ll ever have the chance. I had a wife. I had a family. My life. But I did it, didn’t I, couldn’t help meself, I just became obsessed with this girl, big eyes, couldn’t get her out of my head. Are you there, Lucia?

Lucia

Yes Jack, I’m here.

Jack

That’s good, you know, no one will take my calls, family disowned me, no one visits. They hate me. You’re the only one who’ll talk to me, The Samaritans, who’ll listen to me; the ones who have to take my call, can’t end the call, can ya? Can you, Lucia?

Lucia

I’m here, Jack.

Jack

Oh Lucia, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Eight, a child of innocence but of possession…Lucia?

Lucia

Yes Jack?

Jack

I raped her and I killed her, Lucia. (Lucia reacts physically but keeps her voice steady) Did you hear?

Lucia

Yes, I heard you Jack.

Jack

What do you think of me? Do you hate me?

Lucia

I… have no opinion of you. No, I don’t hate you.

Jack

Do you think I should die?

Lucia

I can’t judge you.

Jack

You know, Lucia, they should never let me out of here. I know they shouldn’t. I’ve become a homosexual here, that’s what happens in prison, and they keep me drugged because of my urges, so they say, but they can’t take away my thoughts. They can’t. I still fantasize about little girls. Little girls with big brown eyes. I should never get out of here. If England still had the death penalty when my case was up, I’d be dead now. Lucia?

Lucia

Yes?

Jack

I deserve to die for what I’ve done; I know that, I’m not daft. Instead, I’m here. I’ll never get out. My life is shit, but it’s better than death. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. Lucia? Still listening to me, Lucia?

Lucia

Yes, Jack, I am.

Jack

Thank you. (Jack hangs up.)

(Lucia sits there in shock, the phone still in her hand. She shakes her head as if to say, No. She stops, pauses, then slams the phone down and steps away from it, repelled.)

Lucia

Fucking, fucking hell!

45 and a Half Miles

by Edward Neville

[excerpted and edited for ONE]

ACT IV

Café Bastille

(The cafe is in ruins [from the bomb blast]. Tables and chairs [litter the scene.] Rubble and a fine layer of dust cover everything. Yellow police tape covers the door. […] Bodies [lie covered with blankets.] A Gendarme flits between them, checking each for identification. Henry enters, ducking under the tape. The Gendarme sees him.)

What do I do right now, Alice? Knowing what I know. What do I do right now?

Alice

Please.

Henry

Why? What do I owe you? What do I owe him? What do I owe you? Do I have loyalty to you? Why? Why, when theone man I know who had loyalty to… to… to humanity above all else. Above a flag, above a person, above everything, he saw the futility of what people do to each other. Why, when my best friend is dead because of you and your fucking cause, do I have loyalty tothat cause? What do I owe that cause? What do I owe you?

Alice

Nothing.

Henry

What does it mean? What does it accomplish? Vindication? Pride? What’s it for? We get independence tomorrow? We rejoin Britain? We get to call ourselves British. We get the Union Jack flying over Westminster again. My best friend is still dead. My life won’t be better for a Union Jack flying over Westminster. Not with Francois dead. My life was better this morning than it is now. The world was better this morning than it is now.

Alice

Henry, my Dad wasn’t—

Henry

No? But this is what he stands for. Why shouldn’t I walk over to that Gendarme and tell him everything he needs to know. I walk over there and tell him everything. Everything about you and your Dad and […] give the government everything they need to discredit the BNP so much that they won’t recover for twenty years.

Alice

I won’t let you.

(She pulls a gun out of her pocket and points it at Henry.)

I won’t let you.

Henry

Did you know you placed every person on the planet equidistantly from each other, there’d be 45 and a half miles from you to the next person?

Alice

What?

Henry

Francois was six foot tall. That means if he stood at the beach and looked out to the horizon, that was three miles away. The horizon is three miles away, and the nearest person would bemore than 42 miles further away than that. 42 miles further than the horizon. But we kill each other over what we want to call that 45 miles. Do you want to kill me over what you call your 45 miles? You’d kill me for the distance between you and the next person. We’re all alone in the world Alice. There are so few of us and we’re killing each other. We’re killing each other for the name of the distance between us and the next person. We’re killingeach other for 45 miles of isolation. Everyone of us has walked 45 miles to find each other. If we kill each other, we have to do it again. We’ve come together, you and I. Are you going to kill me?

Alice

I don’t know what to do.

Henry

Neither do I.

Gendarme

Excuse moi? Madame, monsieur, tres desole, however I am going to have to ask you to vacate the premises. This is a crime scene, I cannot risk you contaminating it. My apologies.

Henry

Yes officer.

(Henry and Alice begin to leave. Suddenly, Henrystops and addresses the Gendarme.)

Excuse me, sir. But might I ask where you’re from?

Gendarme

Where I am from?

Henry

Yes.

Gendarme

I was born in a small town called Saint-Omer. It isabout 40 kilometres from Calais.